"Wait... I don't get it." They'd been walking for some time, trying to get to the location of their meeting with some guys. Thalia had zoned out during that conversation, along with several others.
"The Shining. It's a horror movie in the seventies, about a guy, his wife and kid. They're staying in this hotel and trapped there because of a winter storm. Jack Torrance, goes after his wife Wendy, because the hotel was making him go crazy."
Ellie stared at the ground as they walked, brows furrowed in confusion, she couldn't quite grasp the concept of this movie. "He tried killing his wife with an axe? What kinda movies were they making?"
"This movie was the first and only of its kind. Anyways, Jack came after Wendy with an axe, he stuck his head through the door and was yellin' 'here's Johnny!'. That line went down in history. Pretty terrible, right?"
"Are you kidding me? That sounds fucking awesome! Did he kill her?" Thalia shook her head, brushing a piece of brown hair from her eyes, "Nope. He froze to death out in the maze where he was chasing her."
"Boring." She smiled and looked forward, the sun illuminating her face. "Not really. He did kill another dude though, there were these creepy twins, a bloody elevator- oh and a naked old lady!" Ellie just gazed at the woman to her right, jaw slack and unbelieving.
"Holy shit... we should watch it!" Thalia huffed out a laugh, "Maybe we can one day..." The wistful tone in her voice didn't go unnoticed by the teen, and certainly not the two adults walking just behind them.
Tess was shocked to say the least, watching the woman she'd known as cold hearted for so many years be so open and friendly to someone she'd just met a day ago. It was a nice change of pace, watching her small smiles and the little giggles she tried so hard to suppress.
The blonde shook her head and looked to Joel, who carried that grumpy expression he always did, but now something was bothering him. "What's got you in a mood?"
"She's gettin attached to a kid who isn't going to live. She's setting herself up for failure." Tess raised a brow at the comment, turning her head back downwards, "She's not going to die. Not before your wife."
Joel nearly stopped dead in his tracks, the realization hitting him that Thalia would give her life for this kid, the kid they barely knew. He could lose his wife over someone he currently couldn't give two shits about.
He continued walking though, not letting this revelation overshadow his mind. Ellie and Thalia were happily walking ahead of them, sharing stories and telling a few half hearted jokes on the way.
They all stopped when the brunette stopped, staring down at something in the ground. Joel came up behind her to see what she was looking at and was a bit concerned when he saw she had stopped for a flower.
It was growing from a crack in the ground, a bright orange hue to it. It was a wildflower, one you could find just about anywhere. "What is it?" She didn't respond, just stared down at the ground with wide eyes.
"Touch her like that again and you won't have a hand!" His voice roared across the forest, no echo because of the abundance of trees. The three people standing above him just slammed his head onto the ground, he couldn't help but groan out at the pain.
Thalia had her eyes shut, taking the pain and simply lying a few feet from him, chest to ground and back bleeding from the wound that had just been cut a few minutes prior. Her eyes opened, pink and puffy, stained with tears.
Joel tried his hardest to stay strong for her, he didn't want her to know that this was affecting him just as much. "Aren't you two just the sweetest goddamn thing I'd ever seen? Saw you two drivin' off the road and knew you'd be a good time."
Thalia let out a sob, her tears hitting the forest floor and dampening the moss below her. The man had one hand holding her head down, the other was holding a knife that he'd just used to carve her up, her lower back.
"Such a pretty face... shame you couldn't fuckin' cooperate." Joel fought against the three men who were currently pinning him to the ground, shaking around but it was useless. "We can fix this. Whatever you want, you can have."
"I already got what I want... why would I give that up now, cowboy?"
That was when she saw it, her eyes landed on the flower just by Joel's head, bright orange and shining in the pale moonlight. A sparkling sign of hope, of an escape from the nightmare she was currently living.
She snapped out of her flashback when a hand hooked under her jaw, forcing her to look upwards and meet the eyes of her husband. It was then, as he was staring her down did he realize what she was thinking about.
Joel gently pushed back a piece of hair, letting her calm down her breathing before they were to continue. Thalia closed her eyes for a moment, letting out a puff of air from her parted lips. "They're not gonna hurt you."
"I know... I know..." Joel nodded and watched intently as her eyes fluttered open, meeting his gaze and sighing as peace finally washed over her being. "Thank you..." She whispered the words and he gave her a nod, reluctantly letting her go so they could continue on.
Ellie watched this and couldn't help but marvel at it, this whole time she'd believed Joel was just a grumpy asshole, maybe there was an actual person under there. Tess had this expression, she refused to watch them, didn't want to admit whatever it was they had going on.
Thalia began walking forward, ignoring it all and falling into step with Ellie. "What was that about?" She just kept her head down, feeling the eyes of Joel and Tess boring into her back. "Things you're too young to know about..."
"Really? You're playing that card?" The brunette gripped her backpack tighter, "Yeah, kiddo. No one deserves to know some of these things and yet some of us have lived through it." Ellie didn't push any farther, choosing to let it be and turning around.
She walked backwards and saw the two adults behind them watching Thalia closely. Something wasn't right, the air was now tension filled and thick. "What are some other movies?"
"No clue... what kinda things you into?" She thought about it for a moment. Ellie wasn't quite sure she had any hobbies or interests, never really had the time in the QZ, until a thought struck her, "Outer space. Dinosaurs too."
"Outer space huh? Didn't peg you for a galaxy kind of girl."
"But you pegged me for a dinosaur girl?" Thalia nodded, taking in a deep breathe of air through her nose. "Yeah... it's my super senses. Comes from being..." She stopped herself only because she wasn't one. "Comes from being this old. You gain a sixth sense about kids."
Ellie chuckled, "What kinda outer space movies were there? There was this one- my friend told me about it, this guy has superpowers and can like- move shit with his mind."
"Star Wars! I used to watch it with my- friend. We only watched the first movie but she seemed to enjoy it." Joel winced at the mentions of his, technically their, daughter. Sarah was always a sensitive subject for him, he never ever brought her up and Thalia respected that because she had her own subjects that were never to be spoken of.
Never talk about that night or their child, the one they never had a chance to raise. Thalia in his mind, no doubt, was an amazing stepmother to Sarah and now watching her with Ellie, he couldn't help but let his mind wander to what she would have been like had their kid lived.
It wouldn't have been easy, that's for sure, but he dreamt of a world where they lived on a large land, they owned a farm and lived off of what it had to offer. It'd be close to Bill and Frank, but far enough away where Bill wouldn't be stopping by to check on their security system every other day.
They'd trade and have dinner with them once every few weeks, Tommy and Tess would stop by and help with the baby. Their miracle baby would have been a girl, one thing that never changed, through and through was that Joel was a girl dad. Images began to flash his mind of their life.
"And what does that say?" Thalia was sprawled out on the blanket, sat up and pointing at the different animals wandering their land. Their daughter, tan skin, gorgeous brown eyes and hair, let out a loud moo, doing her very best cow impression.
Her mother beamed at the answer she'd gotten, giggling and pointing to a horse that was grazing on grass just near the fence. "What about that one?" The little girl shook her head and neighed, letting out a small giggle afterwards, as did her mother.
Joel watched this all with a smile, grinning from ear to ear, "Come on! Dinner's almost done." Thalia picked her up and walked over to the picnic table, "Where are Bill and Frank? Thought they were comin' over for dinner."
"Not tonight, said they'd be in tomorrow mornin'. Could make 'em breakfast before they leave." She nodded and walked over to give her husband a quick peck on the cheek, setting their daughter down in the small chair Joel had constructed from some old wood he found in the barn.
"Daisy, what do we tell daddy?" She looked up and thought about it for a moment, "Thank you!" She flashed them a toothy grin, causing them both to laugh. "She's got her father's smile..." Joel shook his head, pulling Thalia into his side and kissing her temple, "All her mother. Thank Jesus."
Her hazel eyes met his and they simply gazed at one another for a moment, "I love you, Joel Miller." Her husband leaned down and pressed a sweet kiss on her lips, "I love you, Thalia Miller."
"Joel! You comin'?" His day dream was ruined when his wife called his name, the only thing that still existed from that fantasy world. "Yeah..." He caught up with them after falling behind, they were close to the meeting point and had their guns (or axe) ready in preparation.
Approaching the building they all ducked behind a car, peeking over the hood to check where the men were but found there was no one there. "Where the fuck are they?"
Joel turned and faced his wife, her eyes were soft, "I'll come with you." He shook his head, "No. You stay right here with them." Thalia wanted to argue but let him go, watching carefully as he stepped away from the broken down vehicle.
She waited with Tess and Ellie, all the girls staring him down to be sure everything would be ok. Joel had his gun out in preparation and eventually he was behind the large truck, gone from their line of sight.
Thalia watched as he opened the door to the back of the truck and silently cursed, she stood up and jogged towards him. Tess and Ellie followed in her footsteps, "What's going on?"
"I don't know..." She peered into the truck and saw it was empty, "They went inside." Everyone turned to Ellie, who was looking down at the bloodied steps, the trail leading up to the building before them. Suddenly, Tess grabbed Ellie and marched inside, her grip was aggressive and Thalia feared what she may do.
"Hey!" She chased after them and tried to grab Tess' arm, stopping her from dragging Ellie inside. She was quick though and stomped up the steps, slamming the door right in the brunette's face. Quickly she opened it back up, walking into the blood bath that had happened not too long ago.
Her lips parted in shock upon seeing all the men torn up, bleeding and lying on the ground in pools of their own blood. It didn't affect her like it should, this was nothing compared to what she'd seen. Still the sight was sickening. "Oh, Jesus."
"I mean there's gotta be a fuckin' radio, or somethin', right?" Tess began sifting through the junk while Ellie, Joel, and Thalia all admired the bodies below them, "Who killed them? FEDRA?"
"No. One of them got bit. The healthy ones fought the sick ones, everyone lost... Tess, what're you doing?"
"Where did Marlene say that she was taking you?" Tess was scrambling and Tess didn't scramble. This woman was calm and collected, cool and kept her shit under wraps. Something wasn't right. "Ellie?"
"I don't know. Just west."
"Fuck. West. Ok. Well I mean, one of them's gotta gotta have a map on them, right? Joel, Thalia, will someone fuckin' help me?" Joel stood still, "No! Tess, it's over. We are going home!"
"That's not my fucking home!" Thalia crept up behind Ellie, watching as her friend snapped and cracked under some sort of pressure before their very eyes. She stood up and looked between the husband and wife, "I'm stayin'. I mean, our luck had to run out sooner or later."
It hit like a ton of bricks, for both Ellie and Thalia because only one of them had the mind to speak up about it. "Fuck... she's infected." The brunette felt her jaw drop, eyes welling with tears because this could only mean one thing. A long time friend was going to die.
Joel and Tess hadn't taken their eyes off one another, "Show me..."
"Joel..." She tried taking a step forward, but he side stepped, putting himself between the infected Tess and the girls who were standing behind him in shock. Thalia gripped Ellie's backpack and shoulder, holding onto for support and the girl was fine with being the one to stand strong.
Slowly she revealed the large bite on her shoulder, pushing her shirt and jacket aside, "Oops, right?" Tess readjusted herself before motioning to Ellie, "Take off your bandage."
She did as she was told and slipped off the wraps covering her forearm where she'd gotten bitten previously that day, "Look. Joel... this is real. Joel, she's fucking real."
Tess grabbed Ellie's arm and showed it to him, since then Thalia had taken her hands off the girl, stepping back and allowing Tess to prove her point. Her hand began to shake, almost twitching, so she hid it behind her back. "I need you two to get her to Bill and Frank's, they'll take her off your hands."
"No... no, no, no, I can't. They're not gonna take her. They won't-..."
"Yes they will! They will take her because she is with Thalia! You will get her there, you will keep her alive and you will set everything right. All the shit we did... please say yes Joel."
Suddenly fingers wrapped around her ankle, latching on tight and a screech came from the infected behind them. Thalia turned around, the now infected man inching closer to her. She slipped her axe from its place on her hip but before she could do anything about it, Joel shot it in the head.
The gunshot rang off the walls, echoing around them. The tendrils were still moving, still signaling. Thalia backed away and shuddered at the realization that there were infected on their way here, to their exact location.
Joel rushed to the door and pushed it open, just enough to hear the snarls and screams of them rushing to the building. "How many of them?"
"All of them. Maybe a minute." Tess was the first to do something about their predicament, walking over to a barrel of gasoline and knocking the top off, pushing it over and letting the contents spill all over the floor. "What are you doing?"
"Making sure they don't follow you." She pushed over several more, then dropped a box of small grenades and allowing them to scatter. Thalia's eyes were filled with unshed tears, watching with a heavy heart until Tess went right up to her husband. "Joel..."
She didn't hear her final words because her brows were now furrowed, more hurt by whatever sight was in front of her. Joel then grabbed both Ellie and Thalia dragging them away, the girl fought but the elder woman couldn't take her eyes off of Tess.
She stared at her with a hurtful expression, allowing her husband to drag her away from nearly two decades of a very complicated friendship.
The world seemed to disappear after that, everything went blurry, Joel running the two girls out the back door and across the street. They didn't stop running until a giant explosion came from the building behind them.
Thalia turned around and stopped, staring at the fire the engulfed the crumbling structure. Watching in amusement and absolute terror, she felt nothing, the tears were gone and her face was emotionless.
Her friend was dead.